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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma
OU Alumnus Nears Red River Milestone
October 08, 2025 | Football
T he subject of famous sports streaks calls to mind names like Joe DiMaggio, Cal Ripken Jr., Jerry Rice and Johnny Unitas.
DiMaggio hit safely in 56 straight games. Cal Ripken Jr. played in 2,632 consecutive games. Jerry Rice caught a pass in 274 straight games. Johnny Unitas threw a touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games. And, of course, Oklahoma won 47 football games in a row.
OU alumnus and fan Dennis Clowers is staring down an accomplishment that could stand tall with some of the greatest feats in sports history.
On Saturday, the 77-year-old Clowers will attend his 70th consecutive OU-Texas football game. For 69 years in a row, one way or another, he has found his way to Cotton Bowl stadium with a seat somewhere in the south end among the sea of crimson.
He didn't even have a ticket for the first game he attended and nearly missed one in the 1960s amid an OU losing streak. But all the same, on every second Saturday in October since 1956, Dennis Clowers has been there.
"I've been very, very lucky," he said.
A framed piece of goal post from the 1956 game resides in Clowers' home. He has countless memories and an impressive recollection of detail from decades ago, and like many fans, a consistent OU-Texas routine and group of friends with whom to attend the game.
C lowers has lived in Oklahoma City since he was 3 years old. His parents attended every OU football game while he was growing up, and he went to his first home game in 1955.
In 1956, Clowers' father got two tickets to the OU-Texas game. He had never been to the rivalry contest but packed the car with his wife and son and drove to Dallas early on Saturday morning. When they arrived at the Cotton Bowl, they had to talk the gate attendant into letting in Dennis without a ticket.
"I had just turned 8 years old, I wasn't very big," Clowers said.
His father and the ticket taker went back and forth. The boy was small enough to sit between his parents, and they wouldn't take up more than two seats, his father argued. The attendant stood his ground, insisting he could not let young Dennis inside without a ticket.
"(My father) could see the ticket taker wasn't going to change his mind, so he just took the tickets and offered them to him," Clowers said. "I guess the guy started feeling guilty, so he looked around to make sure nobody was looking and said, 'OK come on in.'"
The three of them squeezed into their two seats and cheered on a 45-0 Oklahoma victory. It was OU's 33rd straight win in its 47-game streak, and the Sooners went on to win their third national championship that season.
From that game, he recalls thinking Cotton Bowl stadium was so different from Memorial Stadium in Norman, because the entire lower bowl was enclosed. Upper decks existed only on the east and west sides. He doesn't remember much about the game itself but vividly described a play by All-American halfback Tommy McDonald.
"Right before halftime – I think OU was up only two scores at the time – he caught a long pass and I swear he caught the back end of the ball," Clowers said. "It was the most incredible catch of a football I'd ever seen, and he scored a touchdown to put OU up, I think, 19-0 at halftime. That's the most distinctive thing I remember."
His family's seats for that first game were somewhere near the tunnel. Clowers estimates that he has sat in every section on the south end of the lower bowl at some point over the years.
Clowers holds a commemorative T-shirt produced by his wife Suzi and their daughter-in-law to celebrate his milestone 70th OU-Texas game.
N ot that he has any effect on the outcomes, but Clowers is 32-34-3 at the Red River Rivalry. Oklahoma won his first two games, then lost eight straight and 12 of 13 through 1970. Since 1971, the Sooners are 29-22-3 against Texas in Dallas. He describes the series as one of streaks. Appropriate, considering his own run of attendance.
Within many incredible accomplishments is a close call. Few football teams go unbeaten through a season without surviving at least one victory by a tight margin. Many baseball no-hitters hinge on a spectacular defensive play. Clowers' streak almost ended in its seventh year.
In 1962, Clowers' parents decided they did not want to go to the game. The Sooners had lost four in a row to Texas, and his father had grown tired of "putting up with the arrogant Texas fans." A friend came to the rescue.
Clowers recalls, "About three days before the game a high school buddy of mine said, 'Hey, my dad's got an extra ticket and we are going to go down there and back the day of the game. Do you want to go with us?' So, I said, 'Let me check with my parents to make sure,' and they said, Yeah, sure, it's fine.' That was probably the closest I came to not going, but wound up having a good friend offer me a ticket."
It was into the 1970s when Clowers recognized that he had a pretty good streak going. He realized he had been to 20 straight games and thought it would be great if he could get to 30 and then 40 and so on. Somehow he was able to keep getting tickets each year, even during the COVID season in 2020 when only about 12,000 OU fans were able to attend.
"You know, it takes a lot of planning to not have some important event happen in October, like weddings and child birth and things like that," Clowers said. "Not that I am really thinking about a football game when those things happen, but I've been really lucky. I haven't had another thing that might have caused me not to go."
A piece of the wooden goal post from the 1956 OU-Texas game at the Cotton Bowl resides in Clowers' house.
C lowers was a member of the Pride of Oklahoma for his first three years as an OU student and played clarinet. His freshman year began in 1966, when the Sooners broke an eight-game losing streak to the Longhorns. In those days, the band wore wool uniforms and sat in the stands rather than at field level where the bands are stationed now.
OU won that game 18-9. The students rushed the field, tore down the goal posts and carried them up the tunnel and into the fair. When the director noticed what was happening, he had the band follow suit.
"He says, 'We are going to form up down there and follow them.' So, we got in formation and followed these guys with the goal posts into the fairgrounds. I bet we marched around the fairgrounds for 30 or 40 minutes," Clowers said. "It basically shut the midway down because people had to move out of the way, and there was really no place for them to go. It was totally unplanned; that was kind of the cool part about it."
Even with so many games in his memory bank, a handful of others stand out. OU's 48-27 win in 1971 at the outset of the wishbone era that started a five-game series winning streak. The 63-14 win in 2000 that reintroduced Oklahoma to college football's national consciousness. Roy Williams' Superman leap that led to Teddy Lehman's interception to clinch victory in 2001. The program's first overtime game in 1996, when the Sooners won 30-27 as a heavy underdog.
Clowers' book shelf includes several titles related to OU football history.
During rush week prior to his freshman year at OU, Clowers was touring the Delta Kappa Epsilon house when he saw, above the bar in the basement rec room alongside a pool table, jukebox and some TVs, an inscribed slab of wood from the 1956 OU-Texas game. He asked what it was, and his guide told him it was a piece of the goal post from the Cotton Bowl. Clowers mentioned that he was at that game.
The goal post remained in the house through Clowers' college career until the chapter left campus in the late '70s.
"One of my contemporaries wound up getting it," Clowers said, "and in 2013 a group of us that were in the fraternity in the '60s and early '70s decided to start having a reunion on homecoming weekend. The guy that had it couldn't come but gave it to another friend of mine who brought it. He said, you have to give this to somebody that it means the most to. So, they decided to give it to me. That's why I have it."
Clowers received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Oklahoma in 1971 and an MBA in 1973. He worked for a private engineering firm before opening his own firm, and was one of the two engineers who designed the Bricktown canal. He later became the Oklahoma City public works director and then served as assistant city manager.
"OU is where I grew up," Clowers said. "I joined a fraternity and made some lifelong friends that you might not make if you don't have an opportunity like that, and I got a great education that allowed me to have a really good career. I owe a lot to the University of Oklahoma."
Dennis' wife Suzi had their daughter-in-law design and print T-shirts to commemorate the milestone. The design features a covered wagon circled with the words, "Dennis Clowers 70th OU/TX Football Game. ESTD 1956."
On Friday, Dennis and Suzi will meet up with their group of friends, stay at their usual hotel and park in their usual church lot before walking through the fair. On Saturday, Dennis will find his seat in the south end of the venerable stadium and cheer on the Sooners in the grandest rivalry game in college football for the 70th straight year. He doesn't anticipate this game feeling any more special just because he will reach a milestone.
"I just want to go down there and win," he said.
DiMaggio hit safely in 56 straight games. Cal Ripken Jr. played in 2,632 consecutive games. Jerry Rice caught a pass in 274 straight games. Johnny Unitas threw a touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games. And, of course, Oklahoma won 47 football games in a row.
OU alumnus and fan Dennis Clowers is staring down an accomplishment that could stand tall with some of the greatest feats in sports history.
On Saturday, the 77-year-old Clowers will attend his 70th consecutive OU-Texas football game. For 69 years in a row, one way or another, he has found his way to Cotton Bowl stadium with a seat somewhere in the south end among the sea of crimson.
He didn't even have a ticket for the first game he attended and nearly missed one in the 1960s amid an OU losing streak. But all the same, on every second Saturday in October since 1956, Dennis Clowers has been there.
"I've been very, very lucky," he said.
A framed piece of goal post from the 1956 game resides in Clowers' home. He has countless memories and an impressive recollection of detail from decades ago, and like many fans, a consistent OU-Texas routine and group of friends with whom to attend the game.
Dennis Clowers shows off photos taken over the years at the Red River rivalry game.
C lowers has lived in Oklahoma City since he was 3 years old. His parents attended every OU football game while he was growing up, and he went to his first home game in 1955.
In 1956, Clowers' father got two tickets to the OU-Texas game. He had never been to the rivalry contest but packed the car with his wife and son and drove to Dallas early on Saturday morning. When they arrived at the Cotton Bowl, they had to talk the gate attendant into letting in Dennis without a ticket.
"I had just turned 8 years old, I wasn't very big," Clowers said.
His father and the ticket taker went back and forth. The boy was small enough to sit between his parents, and they wouldn't take up more than two seats, his father argued. The attendant stood his ground, insisting he could not let young Dennis inside without a ticket.
"(My father) could see the ticket taker wasn't going to change his mind, so he just took the tickets and offered them to him," Clowers said. "I guess the guy started feeling guilty, so he looked around to make sure nobody was looking and said, 'OK come on in.'"
The three of them squeezed into their two seats and cheered on a 45-0 Oklahoma victory. It was OU's 33rd straight win in its 47-game streak, and the Sooners went on to win their third national championship that season.
From that game, he recalls thinking Cotton Bowl stadium was so different from Memorial Stadium in Norman, because the entire lower bowl was enclosed. Upper decks existed only on the east and west sides. He doesn't remember much about the game itself but vividly described a play by All-American halfback Tommy McDonald.
"Right before halftime – I think OU was up only two scores at the time – he caught a long pass and I swear he caught the back end of the ball," Clowers said. "It was the most incredible catch of a football I'd ever seen, and he scored a touchdown to put OU up, I think, 19-0 at halftime. That's the most distinctive thing I remember."
His family's seats for that first game were somewhere near the tunnel. Clowers estimates that he has sat in every section on the south end of the lower bowl at some point over the years.
Clowers holds a commemorative T-shirt produced by his wife Suzi and their daughter-in-law to celebrate his milestone 70th OU-Texas game.
N ot that he has any effect on the outcomes, but Clowers is 32-34-3 at the Red River Rivalry. Oklahoma won his first two games, then lost eight straight and 12 of 13 through 1970. Since 1971, the Sooners are 29-22-3 against Texas in Dallas. He describes the series as one of streaks. Appropriate, considering his own run of attendance.
Within many incredible accomplishments is a close call. Few football teams go unbeaten through a season without surviving at least one victory by a tight margin. Many baseball no-hitters hinge on a spectacular defensive play. Clowers' streak almost ended in its seventh year.
In 1962, Clowers' parents decided they did not want to go to the game. The Sooners had lost four in a row to Texas, and his father had grown tired of "putting up with the arrogant Texas fans." A friend came to the rescue.
Clowers recalls, "About three days before the game a high school buddy of mine said, 'Hey, my dad's got an extra ticket and we are going to go down there and back the day of the game. Do you want to go with us?' So, I said, 'Let me check with my parents to make sure,' and they said, Yeah, sure, it's fine.' That was probably the closest I came to not going, but wound up having a good friend offer me a ticket."
It was into the 1970s when Clowers recognized that he had a pretty good streak going. He realized he had been to 20 straight games and thought it would be great if he could get to 30 and then 40 and so on. Somehow he was able to keep getting tickets each year, even during the COVID season in 2020 when only about 12,000 OU fans were able to attend.
"You know, it takes a lot of planning to not have some important event happen in October, like weddings and child birth and things like that," Clowers said. "Not that I am really thinking about a football game when those things happen, but I've been really lucky. I haven't had another thing that might have caused me not to go."
A piece of the wooden goal post from the 1956 OU-Texas game at the Cotton Bowl resides in Clowers' house.
C lowers was a member of the Pride of Oklahoma for his first three years as an OU student and played clarinet. His freshman year began in 1966, when the Sooners broke an eight-game losing streak to the Longhorns. In those days, the band wore wool uniforms and sat in the stands rather than at field level where the bands are stationed now.
OU won that game 18-9. The students rushed the field, tore down the goal posts and carried them up the tunnel and into the fair. When the director noticed what was happening, he had the band follow suit.
"He says, 'We are going to form up down there and follow them.' So, we got in formation and followed these guys with the goal posts into the fairgrounds. I bet we marched around the fairgrounds for 30 or 40 minutes," Clowers said. "It basically shut the midway down because people had to move out of the way, and there was really no place for them to go. It was totally unplanned; that was kind of the cool part about it."
Even with so many games in his memory bank, a handful of others stand out. OU's 48-27 win in 1971 at the outset of the wishbone era that started a five-game series winning streak. The 63-14 win in 2000 that reintroduced Oklahoma to college football's national consciousness. Roy Williams' Superman leap that led to Teddy Lehman's interception to clinch victory in 2001. The program's first overtime game in 1996, when the Sooners won 30-27 as a heavy underdog.
Clowers' book shelf includes several titles related to OU football history.During rush week prior to his freshman year at OU, Clowers was touring the Delta Kappa Epsilon house when he saw, above the bar in the basement rec room alongside a pool table, jukebox and some TVs, an inscribed slab of wood from the 1956 OU-Texas game. He asked what it was, and his guide told him it was a piece of the goal post from the Cotton Bowl. Clowers mentioned that he was at that game.
The goal post remained in the house through Clowers' college career until the chapter left campus in the late '70s.
"One of my contemporaries wound up getting it," Clowers said, "and in 2013 a group of us that were in the fraternity in the '60s and early '70s decided to start having a reunion on homecoming weekend. The guy that had it couldn't come but gave it to another friend of mine who brought it. He said, you have to give this to somebody that it means the most to. So, they decided to give it to me. That's why I have it."
Clowers received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Oklahoma in 1971 and an MBA in 1973. He worked for a private engineering firm before opening his own firm, and was one of the two engineers who designed the Bricktown canal. He later became the Oklahoma City public works director and then served as assistant city manager.
"OU is where I grew up," Clowers said. "I joined a fraternity and made some lifelong friends that you might not make if you don't have an opportunity like that, and I got a great education that allowed me to have a really good career. I owe a lot to the University of Oklahoma."
Dennis' wife Suzi had their daughter-in-law design and print T-shirts to commemorate the milestone. The design features a covered wagon circled with the words, "Dennis Clowers 70th OU/TX Football Game. ESTD 1956."
On Friday, Dennis and Suzi will meet up with their group of friends, stay at their usual hotel and park in their usual church lot before walking through the fair. On Saturday, Dennis will find his seat in the south end of the venerable stadium and cheer on the Sooners in the grandest rivalry game in college football for the 70th straight year. He doesn't anticipate this game feeling any more special just because he will reach a milestone.
"I just want to go down there and win," he said.
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